Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly was fired after being accused of sexual harassment in the workplace less than a year after Roger Ailes left Fox with over 20 allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct at Fox News.

Bill O’Reilly officially left Fox News on Wednesday April 19th after sexual harassment lawsuits against him begin to pile up. “O’reilly left after many sponsors began to pull support,” even with President Trump defending him.

President Trump told The New York Time this when asked about O’Reilly, “I think he shouldn’t have settled; personally I think he shouldn’t have settled, because you should have taken it all the way. I don’t think Bill did anything wrong,”

Sofia Bird (9) has concerns about people listening and looking up to someone accused of sexual harassment.

“They have the power to influence people in a very negative way; this could lead men to thinking it’s okay for them to harass women just because they did,” Bird said.

College Freshman Lina Barakat, who is the older sister of former ARS student Sara Barakat, said she found the issue “very reflective of the Fox news channel as a whole.”

“I think that him getting fired is interesting with Fox news in general and considering their relationship with the president,” Barakat said.

After a story by The New York Times about his settlements with women he harassed was published, Bill O’Reilly’s show, “The O’Reilly Factor, lost more than 50 advertisers.””

“I think them firing him, in a way, he’s really lost his platform” Barakat said. “I think they were under a lot of scrutiny considering they lost one of their biggest anchors and Fox did what they could to save face.”

Fox news has paid over 13 million dollars in settlements against Bill O’Reilly since 2001.

“I feel like there’s been a recent surge of big names getting accused of sexual harassment. Not that long ago it was Bill Cosby. We see a trend of these big personalities in a whole, getting away with this.”

According to The New York Times, many women have expressed discomfort in the working environment at Fox News.

“I think they probably should have done something sooner especially with all these women coming forward, that’s just proof”, “Instead of just sitting idly by they should have done something.” ARS teacher Mrs. Schnautz said.

According to the New York Times women at Fox are concerned with the way Fox handled the harassment and the message it sends to harassment and assault victims.

“My concerns are that to let that be okay is not okay, to let that slide and not address that in a timely manner, I think that’s a problem and it sends a message to women that’s like, oh well, and I don’t think that’s okay,” Mrs. Schnautz said.

Rebecca Alonso is living large during her senior year as Editor in Chief in the Polaris Press newspaper. Becca is ambitious, determined, resilient, fierce, protective, and would describe herself as the “cool aunt/cat lady” of the journalism family. She enjoys spending time with her friends and snuggling kittens, perfectly representing her warm personality. Out of her many interests, one of her major passions is journalism in media. She is the best person to go to for advice, and you can always trust her to give a helping hand.